May 28, 2011

Memorial Day ~ Poppy Day

First thing this morning I picked up my sweet sister, and headed to Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville, Illinois to plant flowers, flags, and do clean up of the headstones. We visited ten family members graves. Marveled at how long they had been gone and talked about how old we were when they left this world. While I was clipping grass around my Aunt Stella’s headstone, my sister was busy cleaning up our grandfather’s stone.“Wasn’t he the best grandpa?” Asked my sister. I couldn’t answer that because my sister and brother had the pleasure of having grandparents, but both sets of my grandparents were gone before I was born. I missed out on that wonderful experience.

Onthe way home we made a quick stop at Ace Hardware, I love that place. At the exit stood a gentleman dressed in his VFW uniform passing out Red Poppies for a donation. Poppies and Memorial Day go hand in hand. When I was young my dad would give me fifty cents so I could get a Poppy. I was thrilled to have that flower on my shirt. Today was no different. I put in more than fifty cents, but I was proud to have that Red Poppy hanging down from my purse strap.